September/October Holiday Dates Recap

The dates for China’s national holidays in 2010 were announced way back in December (check out all the dates here) but the Shanghaiist reminded us this morning about the “chaotic” holiday schedule coming up in mid-September and early October. We thought we’d remind our readers so you can start planning your getaways now.

So, here goes…

On Sunday, September 19 we all have to work, so we can “earn” a holiday from Wednesday, September 22 to Friday, September 24. Then we have to work that weekend (September 25-26).

From Friday, October 1 to Thursday, October 7 we have the usual week off for National Day. Then we have to work on Friday and Saturday (October 8-9) before having Sunday, October 10 off as usual.

Confused? Here it is in table form with the holidays marked in red.

Mid-Autumn Festival
19-Sep-10 Sunday Working Days
20-Sep-10 Monday
21-Sep-10 Tuesday
22-Sep-10 Wednesday Holidays
23-Sep-10 Thursday
24-Sep-10 Friday
25-Sep-10 Saturday Working Days
26-Sep-10 Sunday

2010 National Holiday
30-Sep-10 Thursday Working Day
1-Oct-10 Friday Holidays
2-Oct-10 Saturday
3-Oct-10 Sunday
4-Oct-10 Monday
5-Oct-10 Tuesday
6-Oct-10 Wednesday
7-Oct-10 Thursday
8-Oct-10 Friday Working Days
9-Oct-10 Saturday

The real question, of course, is why oh why does China have such a… dare we say it… stupid holiday system? Why do the dates shift every year? Why does everyone have to work on a weekend to “earn” their holiday? Why is everyone forced to take off a week at the same time instead of having annual leave that they can take when they want to? Why does China continue to wrestle with this “problem” when most of the rest of the world has fixed public holidays and an annual leave system?

Any attempts at explanation welcome.